Agility Attempts to Vault Fraud Chargesby Pratap Chatterjee, Special to CorpWatchFebruary 1st, 2010Agility, a Kuwait-based multi-billion dollar logistics company spawned by the U.S. invasion of Iraq, is facing criminal charges for over-billing the U.S. taxpayer on more than $8.5 billion worth of food supply contracts in the Iraq war zone. If the lawsuit is successful, the company could owe the U.S. government as much as $1 billion.

US/KUWAIT: Settlement possible in military contractor fraud caseby Bill Rankin, Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionJanuary 29th, 2010Kuwaiti firm Agility (formerly Public Warehousing) indicted here for overcharging the Army on an $8.5 billion contract is negotiating a possible settlement with the Justice Department. On Nov. 9, a federal grand jury in Atlanta indicted the firm on charges it gouged the U.S. government by overcharging on its contract to supply food to American troops in Iraq.

US: F.B.I. Charges Arms Sellers With Foreign Bribesby Diana B. Henriques, New York Times January 20th, 2010On Tuesday, 22 top-level arms industry executives, including a senior sales executive at Smith & Wesson, were arrested in what Justice Department officials called the first undercover sting ever aimed at violations of the federal ban on corporate bribes paid to get foreign business. The individuals are being prosecuted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

US/IRAQ: U.S. Companies Join Race on Iraqi Oil Bonanzaby TIMOTHY WILLIAMS, New York Times January 13th, 2010American companies have been arriving in Iraq to pursue an expected multibillion-dollar bonanza of projects to revive the country’s petroleum industry. But there are questions about the Iraqi government’s capacity to police the companies. “These are for-profit concerns and they are trying to make as much money as they can,” said Pratap Chatterjee of CorpWatch.

NIGERIA: Ex-militant leader heads SPDC’s patrol teamby Chris Ejim, Nigerian CompassJanuary 8th, 2010Authorities of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) have unveiled a new security strategy for securing oil pipelines and platforms within the Niger Delta region. Shell has appointed former MEND militant commander, Eris Paul, and his company, Eristex Pipeline Patrol, to secure oil facilities in the Southern Ijaw area of the Delta.

AFGHANISTAN: Lost in Limbo: Injured Afghan Translators Struggle to Surviveby Pratap Chatterjee, ProPublicaDecember 17th, 2009Local translators are hidden casualties of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. military uses defense contractors to hire local residents to serve as translators for the troops. These local translators often live, sleep and eat with soldiers. And yet when they are wounded, they are often ignored by the U.S. system designed to provide them medical care and disability benefits, according to an investigation by the Los Angeles Times and ProPublica.

JORDAN: For AIG’s Man in Jordan, War Becomes a Business Opportunityby T. Christian Miller, ProPublicaDecember 17th, 2009For Emad Hatabah, the war in Iraq became a business opportunity. As AIG's chief representative in Jordan, he was responsible for coordinating the care for hundreds of Iraqis who had been injured while working under contract for U.S. troops. He fulfilled his functions by sending business to himself, his friends and business associates, according to interviews and records.

US: Up to 56,000 more contractors likely for Afghanistanby Walter Pincus , Washington Post December 16th, 2009The surge of 30,000 U.S. troops into Afghanistan could be accompanied by a surge of up to 56,000 contractors, vastly expanding the presence of personnel from the U.S. private sector in a war zone, according to a study by the Congressional Research Service.

US: Blackwater Guards Tied to Secret C.I.A. Raidsby JAMES RISEN and MARK MAZZETTI, New York TimesDecember 10th, 2009Private security guards from Blackwater Worldwide participated in some of the C.I.A.’s most sensitive activities — clandestine raids with agency officers against people suspected of being insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan and the transporting of detainees, according to former company employees and intelligence officials.